title: “Economic Development — Prosperity Framework & Employment Lands” council: ballarat state: vic category: strategy status: active last_compiled: 2026-04-13 source_docs:
- ballarat-prosperity-framework.txt
- ballarat-economic-program-2015-19.txt
- hillpda-employment-land-review-2021.txt
- draft-industrial-land-strategy-ballarat-2024.txt
Economic Development — Prosperity Framework & Employment Lands
Ballarat’s economic development strategy has evolved through several documents spanning a decade, reflecting the city’s transition from a manufacturing-dependent regional centre to a diversified knowledge and service economy. The key documents are the Economic Program 2015–2019, the Ballarat Prosperity Framework (2020), the HillPDA Employment Lands Review (2021), and the Draft Industrial Land Strategy (2024).
Ballarat Prosperity Framework (2020)
The Prosperity Framework emerged from the “Ballarat is Open” community co-design project in late 2019, engaging approximately 650 residents. It sits above all subsequent economic and marketing plans in the strategic hierarchy, sitting alongside the Ballarat Strategy 2040.
Vision: Ballarat as “a city of possibilities” — innovative, compassionate, heritage-rich, and designing a prosperous future built on people, culture and character.
Key themes:
- Innovation and entrepreneurialism, with data and technology providing better opportunities
- Creative city identity producing world-class experiences for visitors and residents
- Sustainable city growth empathetic to heritage foundations including Aboriginal cultural heritage
- Leadership in renewable energy and carbon neutrality
- Strong circular economy through cross-industry collaboration
The Framework feeds into the Council Plan, city-wide marketing plans, brand storybook, economic plans, creative city implementation plans, and the Ballarat Strategy refresh.
Economic Program 2015–2019
The Economic Program (August 2015) set a practical four-year framework guided by a 20-year economic vision with three core themes:
- Regional Development — Ballarat as the Capital of Western Victoria
- Economic Growth and Diversification — Australia’s premier high-technology and knowledge-based regional economy
- Capitalising on Population Growth — a bigger and more diverse community
Four platforms for growth:
- Economic Growth and Transformation — productivity gains, improved participation, leveraging population growth
- CBD Activation — driving the CBD as an economic turbine
- Innovation — improving quality of economic activities
- Building Capacity From Within — improving local firm capabilities across health, retail, manufacturing, education, and construction sectors
Planning relevance: The program informed the justification for the Ballarat West Employment Zone, the CBD Strategy action plan refresh, and the emphasis on knowledge-sector employment precincts.
HillPDA Employment Lands Review (2021)
Prepared by HillPDA as a background report to inform the Draft Industrial Land Strategy, this review provides the empirical basis for understanding Ballarat’s employment land supply and demand. It maps existing industrial precincts, assesses socio-economic trends, and analyses economic and industry trends including advanced manufacturing, automation, higher-density industrial development, logistics, and e-commerce.
Key findings:
- Ballarat’s employment structure is shifting toward health, education, and professional services
- Manufacturing remains significant but increasingly automated and space-efficient
- Demand for large-lot logistics and distribution land is growing, driven by Ballarat’s position on the Western Highway
- Some older industrial areas face land-use conflicts with encroaching residential development
- The Ballarat West Employment Zone (BWEZ) is the principal greenfield employment land supply
Draft Industrial Land Strategy (2024)
The Draft Industrial Land Strategy (May 2024) is the current policy document seeking to replace the 2009 industrial-areas-review. It was released for public consultation via MySay Ballarat.
Vision: Ballarat as the leading industrial and business location in western Victoria, with a renowned advanced manufacturing sector in high-amenity business precincts connected to creative and knowledge activity clusters.
Key directions:
- Regionally significant industrial lands in the north-west (Sunraysia Drive/Dowling Road, Draffins Road precincts) forming the largest industrial cluster outside metropolitan Melbourne
- Consolidation and growth of established industrial precincts (Wendouree Station, Latrobe Street Saleyards, Delacombe Southwest)
- Transition of conflicted older industrial areas (Lal Lal Street, Rodier Street, Selkirk) to residential or mixed-use
- Integration of circular economy and zero-carbon design principles
- Support for the BWEZ as a major future employment precinct
Planning scheme implications: The strategy will likely generate planning scheme amendments to rezone transitioning industrial areas and to update local policy supporting employment land protection.
Planning Relevance
The economic development strategy documents collectively inform:
- Employment land zoning and protection in the planning scheme
- The industrial-areas-review (2009) — to be superseded by the Draft Industrial Land Strategy
- Growth area planning, particularly the BWEZ and growth-areas-framework-plan
- The cbd-strategy and CBD activation objectives
- Population and housing demand projections in the housing-strategy-2041
Current Status
- Prosperity Framework (2020): Adopted, active
- Economic Program 2015–2019: Superseded, but 20-year vision still referenced
- HillPDA Employment Lands Review (2021): Adopted as background report
- Draft Industrial Land Strategy (2024): Draft, released for consultation — adoption pending
Gaps
- Final adopted version of the Industrial Land Strategy not yet available
- No updated economic program post-2019 (Prosperity Framework serves as the strategic umbrella instead)